I am having the mysterious ghostly Internet connectivity issue from hell. Please help me. I am a dumb ignorant end user and you are the wise and noble gurus!! OK, maybe that last bit was over the top but I will be VERY grateful. Seriously, if you solve my problem and the problem doesn't return then I'll like give you an iTunes gift or something if you like.
I've been having trouble since I moved into a new apartment in a downtown urban area. I've spent countless hours trying to make my Internet connection work properly on my own and several more hours (like 12+) on the phone over the course of several months.
Core problem:
Every few minutes my WiFi Internet connectivity is lost, even though I'm still connected to the AP. There's a lot of variability but on average I'm online for about 4-6 minutes then offline for about 2-3 minutes. This problem persists for a long time despite tons of corrective steps, then it seems to be fixed and goes away for a while, only to come back in a day or two.
Hardware details:
Dell Laptop
Intel WiFi Link 1000 BGN
Apple Time Capsule router
Arris modem
2.4Ghz network
I'm sitting within 2 feet of the access point
Software details:
Windows 7
Lots of VPN software installed (once a suspected cause, but evidence is inconclusive - problem persisted after uninstalltion)
Windows Firewall
Firefox
Steps taken:
powercycling everything billions of times, in all different orders
uninstalling/resinstalling TUN/TAP and VPN software -- it seemed like this worked at first, but then the problem came back anyway
Had the ISP change the IP
Refreshed caches
Renewed DHCP lease
Toggled NAT
Changed radio stations
Tried ethernet -- yes, that works
Tried using a Macbook -- sometimes the MacBook worked when the Dell didn't, but sometimes neither one had connectivity
Tried changing DNS servers (for a while that also seemed to work, must have been a co-incidence tho, the problem returned)
Tried verifying the permissions and repairing the disk
I'm at my wits end. Help me Hak 5 gurus, you're my only hope!